Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) said a discharge petition regarding the late convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein would be proof that Congress is “not working together.” 

“No, I will not vote for a discharge petition. The discharge petition is essentially when we‘re not working together, not when we are working together,” Sessions said Tuesday on CNN News Central. 

“And the need for getting the data and the information, all of it, is still apparent to all of us — or at least James Comer recognizes that. And so we‘re going to work through what we‘ve got and work together on a bipartisan effort,” he said. “So no need to go for a discharge petition.”

In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Sessions said, “I understand where Massie is coming from on this issue. He’s in trouble in his district.”

Sessions was referring to the threat of a primary challenger after President Donald Trump announced he was looking for someone to endorse over Massie.

The Republican primary for Kentucky is next May, and no candidates have entered the race so far.

These petitions go against the Hastert Rule, which instructs the House speaker to bring a bill to the floor only “if the majority of the majority” are in direct support of it. This can be a “dangerous” tactic, according to Sessions.

“Discharge petitions exist primarily for the minority,” Sessions told the Washington Examiner.

Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) have teased issuing a discharge petition on Tuesday, which would pressure the Justice Department to release the documents related to Epstein. The pair would introduce a bill to the House without a committee report, despite the House Oversight Committee’s efforts to analyze these documents.

“The need for us to move through the document is what we‘re attempting to do,” Sessions said of the committee.

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE AND ERIC BURLISON JOIN THOMAS MASSIE DISCHARGE PETITION TO FORCE RELEASE OF EPSTEIN FILES

It remains to be seen who will join Sessions in a vote against the petition. Already, Massie has the support of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA)  and Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO), who signed on as cosponsors.

The Washington Examiner reached out to Khanna and Massie for comment.